Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Elton
Trueblood was a Quaker theologian, advisor to American Presidents,
author, and hymn-writer. This hymn has appeared in many hymnals since
its writing in 1966. Because it is in the standard 8.7.8.7.D meter, it
has been set to many tunes over the years.

Like
Trueblood’s powerful voice among American theologians of the 20th
Century, this single line jumps out from the hymn text which is itself a
powerful prayer for the church to sing corporately.

It
might be said that we are people of great faith but small vision. We
verbalize how much we rely on God’s leadership and direction, but often
we shy away from casting our vision beyond the commonly-held parameters
of the world-wide church, our own denomination, our local congregation,
or our small circle of Christian friends. No doubt some of the greatest
sacred ideas – visions, if you will – have gone by the wayside because
the person to whom they were revealed was reluctant to carry them
through… to lay them out before others as a viable option for furthering
the kingdom. Perhaps they were shared with a few, disparaged
(pooh-poohed), and set aside.

I would like to not be considered a person of small faith OR small vision. I’d like to trust the Father’s wise bestowment
of kingdom plans, and (because they are truly from the Father) run
after them with greater vigor. After all, “Where there is no vision, the
people (of God) perish.” (Proverbs 29:18). And likely, some of us are
withering due to our self-imposed limited vision of what God wants to
accomplish in our personal lives and in the greater kingdom.

Monday, October 30, 2017

This coming weekend, we will have an hour transfused into our lives
by the great timekeeper of the earth. I have to admit that I am not a fan of
the semi-annual resetting of the clocks. If a presidential candidate would make
the abolishing of spring-forward, fall back his/her major platform issue, I
would cast my vote on their behalf whatever party they might represent. Well, maybe not!

Down deep, I think it must be an economical ploy to give me
one extra hour of daylight from March through October to spend money!

Every year at this time, we are told that we have an extra
hour to sleep, probably because officially this this donation of sixty minutes
comes to us at 2:00 am. Most of us are probably awakened by our body-clock at
the same time anyway, so we ended up with an extra waking hour instead. And
because it always falls on a Saturday night into Sunday, our additional time is
part of the holiest day of our week. So theoretically, we have an extra hour to
invest in the worship of God, the sharing of our faith or service on his behalf
to our fellow human beings – those activities and attitudes to which we are
drawn on Sundays.

God is not thrown off by this human-induced attempt to make
the sun stand still. Since the Most Holy One never naps, doses or sleeps, he is
just as available during our gift-of-hour each autumn. His watchcare is active
no matter how many time increments our days may be expanded. I’m glad about
that: imagine if for one hour each November, God’s presence in our lives were
suspended. As absurd as that may sound, it should give you pause.

How ever many hours I have in this day or any other day -
with this century-old hymnline, I daily ask for God to stay nearby… so near
that I will sense his presence in such a way that his nearness will affect my
thinking, my decision-making and my actions.

“O ever-present One, I need you every hour. Stay close at
hand because I know that the temptations I face today will be less powerful
when you are near. Amen.”

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Why
is it that those sins which were long-ago forgiven… canceled by the
eraser of God… why do they continue to have power over us and haunt us?
They lurk in the back of our subconscious memory and surface now and
then to almost take us hostage? For some reason, we have not fully
grasped the reality of forgiveness… even those of us who have known
about it our entire lives, have heard multiple sermons and studies on
the subject, and – best of all – have experienced it over and over for
ourselves.

There’s a weird little verse in Isaiah’s
woe-listing that says, “Woe unto them who draw iniquity with cords of
vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope.” (5:18) I often quote it
when called upon to say a particularly meaningful scripture passage; it
gets great puzzled looks from everyone in the study circle! These are
they who cannot let go of their sin; in their vanity, they drag it
behind them as if attached to them by a rope. It’s a great picture of
those of us who will not accept the gift of God’s forgiveness; it is too
often a picture of ME!

Imprisoned by guilt? It’s time for a break-out.

Better
yet, it is time to accept the Governor’s “pardon”! The One who governs
the universe is concerned with your freedom. God wants to set you free…
and his truth can do that! The truth is: you are forgiven of all you
have submitted for absolution. Get over it. Let it go, let it go! Cut
the tugging-rope you have too long dragged behind you. Walk away a freed
man/woman.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Have
you ever turned to someone you admire for having come through a
difficult time or whose life is just one trial after another and said to
them “What’s your secret?” You don’t mean it is a secret as such; you
mean “How do you do it?”

This hymn draws a picture of
walking along a road… or through a meadow… or up a mountain trail with
Jesus – just the two of us. As we walk, I have the wherewithal to turn
to him and ask, “What’s your secret?” or “How do you do it?” Knowing
that his humanity brought with it bearing up under the strain of
difficult days and might have included fretting over the cares of this
world… ultimately dying a cruel death at the hands of enemies. What IS
his secret?

We figure that if we understood how HE did it, we could do better ourselves as we face rough spots, trying times.

Some
of you will remember a song from the early 1950’s called “It Is No
Secret.” That song is all about how there is no secret to WHAT God can
do in Christ; this hymnline asks HOW did the Son of God hold up under
the human struggle that was his to bear.

This is
somewhat of a mystery, but as we delve deeper into the life of Christ
and look at how he reacted and what he said, we have a better
understanding of the secret of his success. When we study his teachings
and try to get at the crux of the matter, we are more likely to find a
pattern for facing our own struggles in a Christ-like manner.

It
may be that Christ will lean over and whisper hope to us. If and when
he does, we welcome that voice that makes our heart in its sorrow
rejoice.

Hear an A Cappella Singing of This Hymn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WXwXQnsaL3A

Thursday, October 19, 2017

I’m using a hymnline that is also the hymn-title and the hymn-tune name!

Many
of us grew up hearing George Beverly Shea (the tune’s composer) croon
this song on the televised Billy Graham Crusades. No one has – or ever
will – sing it quite like he did!

The upshot of this hymn is simple: I’d rather have Jesus than you name it.

There
is not much else to be said about the hymnline – there is much to be
said about our application of its truth to our actual hierarchy of
priorities and how we in reality live those out in our daily lives. In
other words, as I sing this hymn, am I being truthful? Or am I simply
verbalizing someone else’s testimony? Worst of all, am I singing a lie?

This
is often true of hymns we sing corporately: preferring Jesus over
anything is a noble goal, perhaps not yet achieved in my own life.

It’s
a question we all have to deal with on our own while not being
judgmental of anyone else down the pew. It would be great if we could
all sing the final line with all sincerity and commitment: “I’d rather
have Jesus than anything this world affords (offers me) today.”

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

I’ve never been much of a singer. For someone who loves to
sing as much as I do, you’d think
I would have been afforded the gift of beautiful vocalization. Fortunately, I
had other musical gifts that were applicable to my forty-plus years of music
ministry; unfortunately, many congregations expect their music leader to be a
top-notch soloist.

As I was growing up, I don’t think we sang this hymn; at
least, it never registered with me or attached itself to my memory like most of
the old songs did. When A. L. (Pete) Butler’s setting of this text was
published as an anthem in 1967, it became one of my favorites… and years later,
he became one of my mentors. His tune has been included in many hymnals since,
making it available to congregations to join the singing of this sturdy,
well-married tune for the Fanny Crosby text.

For me, I am always drawn to this hymnline: “I sing, for I cannot
be silent.” I have no choice but to sing… I can’t just stand there while the
love of Christ is the theme of everybody else's song. My lusty, not-so-wonderful raspy
baritone voice may draw questioning looks from people down the pew, but that
will NOT mute me. I can NOT be silent. I have to sing when the Spirit says
“Sing!”

Paul McCartney has a song “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance.” It’s
not exactly a church song, but it does apply to my discussion. I join him in
polishing up my tonsils because I’ve gotta sing!

While I am all for the sounds of silence in worship; for me
as a contemplative, they are imperative to my finding God. Remember, I’m an
Elijah-type. I’m sure God enjoys those lengths of absolute breathless silence,
but when we rear back and sing – breaking the silence – I imagine a wide smile
crosses his face.

That’s why I love this hymn. That’s why I sing no matter
what anyone around me thinks about my intoning talent. “I sing, for I cannot be
silent! His love is the theme of my song.”

Monday, October 16, 2017

Often
considered a children’s song, this simple hymn can message us no matter
how old we are, especially those of us whose entire life has been
inquisitive at best… nosy at worst!

It seems as if this
is worded like early elementary students might speak when sitting on
the floor in their Sunday School class or gathered in a family setting.
It may be simple-speak that makes this such an appealing hymn, familiar
to most Christian denominations. I’m pretty sure it’s the simple-speak
that appeals to me!

There are so many questions I have to ask Jesus when face to face I shall behold him far beyond the starry sky.
I would write them all in composition books if I thought we could take
them with us on that journey. I want to know why boys and girls couldn’t
swim together at youth camp when I was a teenager – why sometimes they
even had separate pools! Or why my home pastor mowed the parsonage yard
in his white shirt and tie. Or why did God allow someone to invent
shrink-wrap that makes everything (especially CD’s) so hard to get into.
Obviously, it’s the spiritual answers I’m after!

However,
THIS hymn is our asking another human with more knowledge of the Bible
to fill us in on the details of the earthly life of God’s Son. But we
all have questions about our faith that seem to have been redacted from
the Canon. Those are the things I’d like to ask Jesus if he were here.
I won’t list my own queries; I’ll let you fill in those blanks for
yourself. We all want to know more than we’ve been told… but THAT is
part of the holy mystery of the faith. If we had all the answers, we
would become arrogant and even snobbier than we are! We’d be singing
that playground ditty, “I know something you don’t know” as we bully our
way through life.

I agree with Paul here: “I want to
know Christ.” (Philippians 3:10) The more I know about his life, the
more likely I am to get to know him personally – just like it is with
all my closest relationships.

So tell me everything you can about Jesus. Inquiring minds want to know!

Friday, October 6, 2017

We have no idea who wrote this hymn, but it continues to be
sung with some regularity in churches who still sing the sturdy texts. I like Laurie
Klein’s chorus “I Love You, Lord,” but it doesn’t come at the subject with quite
as much intensity or from as many directions.

This is one of those hymn-lines which needs no further
discussion: it says what it needs to say and is poignant on its own. I will, of
course, expound upon it… like preachers who continue to sermonize on those
straight-forward scriptures.

While teaching a children’s song years ago, I discovered an
easy way to remember the nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: the
first three are one syllable (love, joy, peace), the next three are two
syllables (patience, kindness, goodness), and the final grouping has three
syllables each (faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).

These nine attributes pretty much get at how we best express
our love – how we demonstrate our commitments. (If you’ve heard me do a
wedding, you’ve likely heard me use this passage.) While they are not all what
an English teacher would dub “action verbs,” they all imply ways in which we
act out that which is becoming our nature.

In the NIV, Paul summarizes this section with “Since we live
by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (v. 25)

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” said Elizabeth
Barrett Browning. To refresh your memory (speaking of English teachers!), here’s
that full sonnet:

How
do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I
love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My
soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For
the ends of being and ideal grace.

I
love thee to the level of every day's

Most
quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I
love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I
love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I
love thee with the passion put to use

In
my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I
love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With
my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles,
tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I
shall but love thee better after death.

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can
reach… freely, purely, with passion.” How profound is that? How appropriate to
our understanding of how our actions can dramatize our love beyond the
footlights of our everyday strutting and fretting our hours upon the stage.

How much do you love Christ? How can your actions show it?
Take to the stage and act it out. Start today. Places everyone. Five minutes to
curtain.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

While
the hymn centers around the request of God’s presence to hover over us
and fall upon us, this hymnline says what we’re not wanting:I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies, No sudden rending of the veil of clay, No angel visitant, no opening skies. But take the dimness of my soul away.

Don’t
you love that?! I do! With this hymn-writer, I don’t ask for some grand
vision or to be caught up in some enraptured ecstasy. I don’t desire
stigmata or other openings in my epidermis in order to prove that the
Spirit of God is active within me. I don’t anticipate one of God’s
messengers to suddenly appear at the foot of my bed at midnight. A
rolling back of the clouds to reveal the heavens behind them is
un-necessary.

I’d be fine with the removal of the dull,
blurry, indistinct places in my soul – those vague, even ambiguous
places that tend to un-brighten the corners of who I am. Yes, I too want
to have light restored to my darkness – the darkness brought on my lack
of trust, my fear… even my disbelief.

So come down, Holy Spirit. Work on my in-most being. No miracles required.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Carlita
and I were once discussing how different world religions have certain
very definite “rewards” waiting for them in their final life beyond the
grave. Some are reserved only for the men, and some are very sexual in
nature. These beliefs in an exact prize (or bevy of prizes!) provide
quite the incentive for their extremists to martyr themselves. After a
few minutes of silence, I said, “And all we have to look forward in the
next life is singing!”

In all honesty, that is not a
bad thing to anticipate: the privilege to “thus surround the throne” as
we march through Zion, the beautiful city of God. For those of us who
delight in few things any more than we enjoy congregational singing, it
gives us reason to look forward to heaven.

This entire
hymn deals with pressing on the upward way toward new heights gained
daily, catching a glimpse of the brightness of Glory, and eventually
planting our feet there.

One stanza has an almost
depressing statement: “My heart has no desire to stay…” That’s a bit too
close to a death-wish for my tastes; but in the next stanza comes
today’s hymnline which says that my faith during this life has caught an
aural-glimpse (I think I just made that up) of what the sound might be
like when the saints gather on heaven’s shore, process around the
throne, cast down their golden crowns as acts of worship, and join the
endless song.

Off and on through my life, I think I
have caught that joyful sound, and I have a high anticipation of linking
myself with members of the heavenly throng who have been assigned a
singing position… not because of their great singing ability, but
because of their heart-felt song.

Do you hear the people sing?

[Those of you who wonder whatever possessed me to create and carry-out
the Old Fashioned Singing Project and its theme “Heaven’s Front Porch”
should be a little closer to understanding my madness!]

Monday, October 2, 2017

I’ve
probably already said this in one of my previous hymnline posts, but
the attribute I look for most in my friendships is dependability. I want
someone on whom I can depend, who will show up when they say they will,
in whom there is no doubt of their faithfulness. Based on those
parameters, Jesus would make a wonderful friend… and indeed he is!

We
have three descriptive terms to label this Jesus Friend: sure, certain,
and never-failing – and they basically mean the same thing.
• I am sure of his commitment to me and my well-being. He is my sure foundation.
• I am convinced that he is reliable. I am certain of this. He is my blessed assurance.
• I have never found him to let me down… ever! He never failed me yet. He is my Mighty Fortress.

An
old southern gospel hymn asks, “Where could I go but to the Lord?” I
totally agree with the implied answer: “nowhere!” He is where I find
protection, sanctuary, asylum. When I run to him, he always provides for
me a hiding place, a haven of rest, a shelter in the time of storm. I
can be certainly sure of his never-failing nature.

Want something today that you can count on? Find a friend in Jesus... the strong and mighty tower.

Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)

About Me

A native of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, went to high school with Dolly Parton... and am still friends with her sister Stella who was "most talented" with me in our graduating class of 1967! Was a Southern Baptist for most of my life,am currently affiliated with Cooperative Baptists. Have worked in Baptist and Presbyterian churches - basically consider myself a Baptiterian!

Love words (texts). Am a published hymn-writer, anthem-text writer and composer. Into live theater, museums and antique stores. Enjoy good movies and PBS dramas.

Married to Carlita - Two bonus sons: Dustin,and Clint and his wife Sherry with our two grandsons Kyle and Carson who just happen to live close by!